An Archaeologist Abroad
by jake111
Summary: So I'm the Dragonborn... Are you suuure you have the right Augustus? That you don't want my father, the General, Hero of the Empire, or one of my older sisters, Laelia, the Hero of Velothi Pass, or Bella, the Blood Gold Lily? Rather than the sickly little blind academic? You heard that correctly, that I'm blind? and sickly...? Well, alright I suppose, let's see where this goes...
1. Chapter 1

Ugh, what in the hells? Did Bella slip something in my drink again?

My head pounded, my body ached with every breath.

Head contusion, possible broken ribs, definite bruising. I mentally catalogued my injuries, but when I went to start feeling for cuts, I found my hands to be bound. Slowly, I forced my eyes open.

"Ah, you're awake." I ignored him for a second, focusing on my surroundings. I was in the back of a slow cart trundling down a dirt road. My hands were bound with simple rope, so that was something. Judging by the surroundings, we were definitely still in Skyrim. There were three men in the cart with me, one dressed in dark blue and grey light armor, another dressed in threadbare rags similar to the ones I was wearing, and… Oh Julianos.

Next to me sat a man in a long fur cloak and a coat of mail, he had long brown hair and a gag covering the lower half of his face. Even if I wasn't up to date on all of the Empire's enemies, even if I hadn't sat at the dinner table with my sisters listening to my father quiz us on the various hotspots of the Empire since I could speak, even if there wasn't a gallery in my family's estate with oil paintings of all of the Empire's most wanted, I would still know that face anywhere.

I was sitting next to the most wanted man in Skyrim, murderer of High King Torygg, leader of the Stormcloak insurrection, and known war criminal. I was sitting next to Ulfric Stormcloak.

The others in the wagon were talking but I was too busy in my head. On the one hand, this news elated me, we had captured the leader of the rebellion. This was the beginning of the end for the rebellion, after this there would be infighting among the Jarls, the fair-weathers and the moderates would switch sides, those that were left would be scattered and in disarray fighting over who would be Ulfric's successor. They would be easily brought to heel by the Legion's forces, the Legion had won, everything after this was clean up and peacekeeping. That would make my life a lot easier since I wouldn't be working in an active warzone.

On the other hand, if I was in the same wagon as him, that left only two options for our destination. Either this was the first leg of a long journey to Cyrodil, unlikely based on the apparent fact that the man in rags was a horse thief. And that left only one plausible possibility, we were going to an execution site. Tullius was the general in Skyrim, a good one too, he wouldn't risk taking Ulfric all the way back to Solitude, the rebels would expect that, right now they would be rushing together a rescue effort, there was too much of a risk that the rebels would ambush the convoy on the way. Tullius would have the execution at the nearest viable location, a town or village within a few miles.

Since I was with them, that meant that I was slated for execution too…

At that thought my heart started pounding, I closed my eyes, trying to follow the breathing exercises Idrosu taught me. It would be alright, this was all just a big misunderstanding. When we got to wherever we were going, I would just explain who I was and how I got here.

I closed my eyes and tried to relive the path that led me here, I needed to get my story straight.

 _Six Hours Ago…_

 _"I need to see Bleak Falls Barrow, Oh, and Korvanjund, and I need to get some rubbings from the standing stones." I was sitting in the back of my carriage books and manuscripts spread over my lap._

 _"I'm going to be roasting Draugr and holding you by the collar to keep you from tripping every trap conceivable for the next few months." Idrosu scowled, but the amused tone told me otherwise._

 _"Probably," I nodded, grinning, I'm careful on my archaeological expeditions, but I don't have Idrosu's eyes or her skill with a sword._

 _Idrosu chuckled, dropping her pretense of irritation, "Still, you need to be careful Aurelia, the Stormcloaks would love nothing more than to capture the daughter of an Imperial General, especially the commander of the Vi Tempestatis."_

 _"Don't worry Idrosu, I'll be careful, and in any case you and an entire century are protecting me." Father had insisted I keep a large escort for this trip. I didn't mind that much._

 _"True enough, still, put your books away, let's practice your mental exercises." She pulled the book on the Jagged crown from my lap and gave me a stern look until I put the rest of them away._

 _I held out my hand in front of me focusing, extending my will over reality, tapping into my magicka and making it pliable. A small flame burns in the center of my palm, it had too, it was undoubtable that a small flame was in the middle of my palm. I kept telling that to reality, and a small flame burst from the center of my palm, only to fizzle out a second later._

 _Idrosu shook her head, "Destruction magic is a matter of will, you cannot try and convince reality to bend, you have to command it, and you have to know that it is yours to command. Let it use your anger as kindling, now try again."_

 _I nodded and focused again, a small flame burns in my palm. This time I didn't add anything to it, I just focused on my palm, there was a flame there and I demanded reality catch up, I offered it my indignation to burn. After a second, it honored my wishes. The flame emerged, and this time it didn't fizzle, though small, it burned hot, and bright, and strong._

 _My caretaker smiled, "Good, now frost."_

 _I let the flame die out and refocused, ice was harder, it required calm rather than anger. A lack of emotion, I cooled my mind, letting my emotions slip back into the lower reaches of my mind, and I commanded the ice to come. My hand chilled, and a small ball of freezing energy hovered over my palm and mist poured from it._

 _"Very good, and lightning."_

 _Lightning was an interesting one, it didn't require anger, or calm, it required pure concentrated will. I channeled the Magicka from within me, not bothering with emotions, giving it form and letting it flow. And within a second, lightning crackled across my hand._

 _"Very good, that should be enough for now." I knew I could expect a lot more of that in the next few months. Of course it would have been much easier if I'd used the proper incantations, but Idrosu was very insistent that I be able to use all of my spells with nothing but my mind._

 _I leaned back in my seat and relaxed. "I'm really looking forward to this trip 'Drosu." This was a once in a lifetime chance for a full study of the massive amount of ancient ruins within Skyrim. The plan was to base ourselves in the College of Winterhold, where I would be attending lectures and classes in between my expeditions. It would be at least three months, I was estimating more along the lines of a year and a half._

 _"I know my Sunna Varla," her old nickname for me, her blessed star. "But I still worry, we should have brought Tempest forces with us, slipped over the border with a small contingent of the Masser Unit. We're painting a massive target on our backs by coming in this caravan."_

 _"You shouldn't worry Idrosu, General Tullius gave us assurances that this area was secure." If I was being honest with myself, I was saying it more to convince myself than anyone else. I agreed with Idrosu, and even if I didn't, I didn't understand why we were coming through the Rift rather than Helgen. We were dangerously close to Eastmarch and Windhelm, the capital of the Stormcloak rebellion._

 _"It is my job to worry-worry about you Aurelia." Idrosu ran her hand along the lacquered nightwood scabbard that contained her sword, Blooddrinker. Though it was not out, I'd seen it enough to know it well. It was a long two handed blade in the Akaviri style, a curved, slender, single-edged blade with an extended round grip. The most distinctive feature of it was the red glow it held that grew brighter when the blade was used. It also grew longer and sharper the more lives it took, I'd kept a measure of it since I was five and in the interim years it had grown three inches. Most interesting, it seemed to have some form of consciousness of its own, probably the reason why Idrosu never left me alone with it._

 _Before I could respond, the carriage came to a sudden, jolting stop. Idrosu immediately moved, putting herself between the door and myself, her hand on the hilt of her sword. I gripped the seat tightly to keep the jolt from being knocked over, I raised my hand towards the door, a spell on my lips, ready to blow away the first person to try and break in._

 _Idrosu opened the eye slit behind the driver's seat, "Quaestor, what's going on out, why have we stopped?"_

 _The driver kept his eyes front, training having been pounded in his head through years of training. "A tree fell in the road ma'am, they're moving it now."_

 _Idrosu gave me a look, I knew immediately what it meant. I went for the small chest under the seat that was kept for emergencies. I slid off my robes and took off my specially crafted leather boots, replacing them with the rough spun garments of a peasant. This could be nothing, but I had a bad feeling biting in the back of my head. From the look on Idrosu's face, I wasn't the only one._

 _Almost immediately after I had changed, we were proven right. Metal rang against metal and arrows thunked against wood, it was an ambush. Idrosu bolted out the door, I waited for a second to let her deal with any enemies immediately outside the door, she didn't need me distracting her, then followed her out._

 _I was immediately flung into a warzone, a rain of arrows came down from the hills, the archers hidden by the trees. I could see men in dark armor engaging the legionaries all along the caravan. I cursed under my breath, "Stormcloaks." I scanned the battlefield around me, the driver was taking cover behind the carriage, I sprinted over to join him, but my eyes were on Idrosu._

 _She was moving to deal with the three men with axes running toward us, she leapt forward, drawing Blooddrinker with a horizontal slash, cutting the first man in half. The sword glowed dark crimson and seemed to absorb the blood as it passed through the man. Sidestepping past him, she spun, holding the blade above her head, then bringing the blade into a downward slash on the man's collarbone, cutting him from neck to armpit, taking off his head and arm. Then she spun again and bounded forward, lashing out with the sword in one hand, driving it through the final opponent._

 _This all occurred within the space of five seconds._

 _Her opponents eliminated, she retreated back to my position, "Quaestor, give me a status report."_

 _To his credit, the man was completely calm under the hail of arrowfire. "We're heavily suppressed by archers in the hills, and we have Stormcloak forces pushing in on us. I'd estimate about two to three hundred." Then he said the one thing no soldier ever wants to say, "We're going to be overrun ma'am. I don't mean to overstep my rank, but I would suggest you and her ladyship take your leave. We'll hold them here for as long as we can."_

 _The man spoke with a grim determination, I knew what he meant. They were going to die to give me time to get away. Idrosu nodded, "What's your name Quaestor?"_

 _The officer blinked, "Vivex ma'am, Quaestor Caius Vivex, Fourth Century of the Seventh Cohort of the Third Imperial Legion. My family lives above our jewelry shop in the Gardens District."_

 _Idrosu nodded, "You and your century's sacrifices will be honored, and your families will be well cared for." The man had been specific for a reason, my father would shower the families of these men with gold for doing this, and they would earn a monument in the memorial district_

 _Still, I paused, looking into the man's face for the first time. He had stone grey eyes and a pale, angular, face devoid of wrinkles and scars. He couldn't have been more than six or seven years older than me. I couldn't take my eyes off of him even as Idrosu grabbed my arm and pulled, guiding me away, throwing up wards to shield us from arrows._

 _Caius gave me a small salute before breaking from his cover and charging the nearest Stormcloak, sword drawn. He took up a shield from a fallen comrade, the rebel swung at him with a one-handed axe. He caught the blow with his shield and stabbed the man through the neck, then shoved the man off his blade with a blow. That drew the attention of three of the Stormcloak's brethren, then the trees blocked him from my sight._

 _I looked forward, where Idrosu was guiding me through the woods. It was dark and misty, the sounds of battle still carried from the road, but they were slowly fading as we put distance between ourselves and the ambush. This wasn't my first time in battle, but it was the first time that I'd had to abandon an entire century, committed to die for my sake._

 _"Aurelia, focus now my Varla, you know what to do if we get separated?" Idrosu's bright red eyes met mine and I nodded. We'd gone over this, if anything happened on the journey that caused us to be separated, we would meet up in Solitude as soon as possible._

 _I nearly ran into her when Idrosu came to a sudden stop in front of me. Then I saw why, dark figures emerged from behind trees and the mist. As they moved forward, I could see the distinctive markings of Stormcloak armor. There seemed to be twenty of them in total, they must have circled around for a sneak attack on the century's position from behind._

 _"Looks like we've found some elf trash, and we all know what we do to elf trash, don't we boys." A huge man in furs, apparently the leader, stepped forward. "I am Gellir Oak-Breaker, your killer Darkie, tell me who is this waif and what makes her important enough to save."_

 _Idrosu let go of my arm and stepped between the rebels and me. "She's nobody, just the daughter of my handmaiden." She whirled her blade in a slow figure eight in front of her, "Let her go, I'm the one you want." Her tone grew steely as she spoke. "Unless you traitors' have sunk to murdering innocent children."_

 _The Stormcloak commander fixed me with a cold gaze, I looked back with not a little genuine fear. After a few seconds, he nodded. "We're no child killers, not even with Empire lackeys. Get out of here child, and if you can find some steel for your spine, go to Windhelm and join a cause worth following."_

 _I looked to Idrosu, she nodded and whispered, "Go, I will see you in Solitude."_

 _I did as I was told, I ran. I ran as fast as I could, almost immediately after, I heard the clashing of steel and the screams of men. It took everything I had not to turn around, but I knew that Idrosu could fight better if she didn't have to worry about protecting me. Eventually, the sounds faded and then it was just me, running alone through the woods. I had no idea where I was going, all I knew was that I had to keep moving, get away from the battle, get to the nearest settlement._

 _I caught my foot on a tree root and ended up falling, feeling decent sized rocks jab me in the chest. As I dragged myself up, I knew from the feeling in my chest that I'd hurt something, and it was getting harder to breathe as I ran. I needed to heal, but I couldn't stop._

 _Eventually I lost track of everything. All that remained was the pain and the woods._

 _Finally, I saw a small collection of buildings in the distance, slightly obscured by the trees. I emerged from the woods and saw a large group of men and women in imperial armor. They had surrounded a group of… Stormcloaks. Was there no escaping them? Still, I kept pushing, I had to reach the Imperial troops._

 _Unfortunately, I must have angered some divine in one way or another, for my luck ran out. Everything that I'd just been through, the shock, the battle, the running, my injuries, all of it chose that moment to catch up to me._

 _I collapsed just as I reached the village, the last thing I felt was my legs buckling and darkness overtaking me._

 **Present.**

I needed to get out of these restraints, get away from these criminals, and get to Solitude. I probably wouldn't need to, but I mentally drew some energy out of the Aetherian realms, picturing what I wanted and molding the energy to my mental picture. An ethereal knife appeared in my hand, held in a reverse grip. I subtly began weakening my bonds, they must not have known I was a mage or they would've taken extra precautions.

I felt a slight ache in the back of my skull, not from the concussion. I was overextending my magic, after everything that had happened, it shouldn't have been a surprise. Reluctantly, I dropped all of my passive spells, keeping only my bound dagger. I needed to conserve my power, but as everything faded to black, I felt that same helplessness I always felt without my magic. Without it, I was nothing more than a dependent babe, and my caretaker was nowhere to be found.

I suppose I forgot to mention…

I'm blind.

 **…**

 **Hey guys, I know I said I'm taking a break from Frigid Warrior for a while to work on the next chapter, and I am, but I want to keep my account active and content producing, so I've been digging around some of my old unfinished stuff and I figure I'll just publish them in the interim to keep content coming out and test the waters.**

 **This is the first chapter in a Skyrim story I was working on, Sunna Varla, my Christmas story is a prequel, an Imperial Lily is a tie in. I've only got about three or four chapters of this done, but I'll post those in the coming weeks to see what you guys think.**

 **R &R people.**


	2. Chapter 2

Well… this is distinctly unpleasant.

That's what I was thinking as I lay on the ground behind the cart. They'd ordered us all out, and without my magic or my staff, I ended up misjudging the distance from where I sat to where the end of the cart was. I hit the dirt, hard. That was certainly great for my broken ribs, and my head contusion.

"Get the hell up prisoner." Whoever said that followed it up with what felt like a swift kick to my stomach. I went into a coughing fit, pain growing as I gulped like a fish for air. Divines, I hated not having my senses.

"I said, Get. The. Hell. Up prisoner." An arm took hold of my elbow, hauling me to my feet. "Take your place in line."

I struggled to stay standing and tried to get my breathing under control. "Where is the line? I can't see-" Before I could finish, the guard backhanded me with a gauntleted wrist.

"Shut up prisoner, and do as you're commanded." Before I could respond, she punched me hard in the stomach. I felt bile burning its way up the back of my throat, I quickly turned away, or at least the direction I hoped was away, from the guard and vomited.

"Ugh," apparently that was the wrong direction, "What in Akatosh's name is wrong with you

Finally, I just screamed, "I'm blind, I can't see! That's what's wrong!"

The guard must have been taken aback by the outburst because for a moment there was no response, then she must have overcome it because a set of hands grabbed me by the shoulders and shoved me in a direction. "Stand there," the voice said angrily.

Another voice came, the same one from the cart, "The Legion is beating blind little girls now, I'd say you'd met your match, but the girl looks far too mighty for you, you milk drinking shrew." The sound of metal hitting flesh, the guard must have hit him. "Ahh, hit me again lass, reminds me of how my sister used to smack me when she was a babe."

"Step forward when your name is called you rebel scum!"

Another voice began to call out the names, "Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm."

The voice from the cart, "It has been an honor, Jarl Ulfric."

"Ralof of Riverwood." Judging by the footsteps, that was the man from the cart.

"Lokir of Rorikstead."

The horse thief, his voice panicked, "No, I'm not a rebel, you can't do this." Sudden, quickening footsteps, he was making a run for it.

"Archers," the guard commanded, she must have been an officer considering the authority her voice conveyed.

There was the distinctive sound of an arrow meeting flesh, slightly dulled by distance, "Anyone else want to try and run for it." unsurprisingly, no one else did.

"Step forward Prisoner," the speaker paused, "Who are you? You're a long way from the Imperial City."

Ah, finally I could end this ordeal. I stood up as straight as I could, still I probably only came up to his chest, and in the clearest, most authoritative voice I could muster, I declared "My name is Aurelia Augustus, daughter of General Brutus Augustus, Commander of the Vi Tempestatis. Sister of Bellona Augustus and Tribune Laelia Augustus, Primus Pilus of the Vi Tempestatis."

There was a moment of what I assumed was silent shock, which I had slightly expected. Then something happened that I wasn't expecting. A gauntleted fist slammed into the side my face, sending me back to the ground. "How dare you insult the Legion in such an egregious manner! You dare impugn our honor, my honor, with such boldfaced lies. Even that elf fucking bastard commander of the zoo he calls a legion is above you."

That changed things, that touched something inside of me, something that didn't belong to me, something that was solely an inheritance from my father. I felt a sudden surge of rage boiling up and with it a surge of energy. I opened my third eye fully, not only seeing reality, but also beyond reality, the rainbow of auras and the weaving threads that made up the tapestry of reality. A, usually frustrating, but currently convenient side effect of my doing this is that it creates a blazing purple orb of light in the center of my forehead.

With speed that surprised even me, I leapt to my feet and extended my hand, the weakened restraints ripping as I did, my will forming an ethereal sword, it's tip just a half centimeter from the guard's throat. "Speak of my family in such a way again and I shall not only end you, I shall take your soul and entrap it within a gem, a gem that I will proceed to toss into Lake Rumare."

I could feel all eyes on me, the colors of auras blended to form a kaleidoscope around me, dark red anger, bright yellow anxiety, gray sadness, my own aura, usually pink or light yellow was tinged with powerful black. Disparate threads wove together amongst the soldiers as they all shared looks and readied themselves for coordination. I also knew that at least a dozen sets of bows and arrows were currently trained on me. But I wasn't me at the moment, I was my father, a man for whom little things like that didn't matter.

"What's going on here?" I recognized the authoritative voice immediately, and suddenly I was me again.

"General Tullius," I broke the liminal bridge and the sword faded. Without the surging power, my vision returned to blackness and I was just that bookish little blind girl again.

Before I could get another word out, the guard was upon me, a gauntleted hand squeezing painfully on my chin and a blade pressed against my throat, "You little bitch, I will take your head myself, but only after you have been properly punished for such insolence." The blade went away and she tore off my clothes, shoving me to the ground. "Auxillory, fetch me a wh-"

"Captain!" General Tullius barked, "Stop this at once."

I pulled myself up from the dirt, careful to try and keep my knees together and wrap my arms over my chest, what little there was to conceal, to preserve what little of my modesty remained. A hand came down on my shoulder, not rough and painful like the guard captain, but gentle and strong. "Aurelia, take this," A warm cloak was draped around my shoulders, I pulled it tight around me.

"General Tullus, sir, that is a traitor, I was punishing her for assaulting an officer and impugning your honor with lies. She must be punished before she dies." I stood, clutching the cape around me as tightly as I could, the fact that most of this village had seen me naked made me fairly uncomfortable. Bella would have chastised me for feeling that way, she would have refused the cloak, stood up, tore the captain to pieces with a few cutting remarks, then spun on her heel and demanded the town seamstress produce a new dress for her of, accepting only the utmost quality, all without a scrap of clothing on her. Bella was proud of her body and enjoyed putting it on display.

Then again, Bella was tall, with wide hips, a slim waist, and a very ample chest. I was short and looked almost prepubescent.

The General's voice sounded even, but I could hear the undertones of anger in his voice. "No Captain, this is Aurelia Augustus, Youngest woman to ever graduate the University of Gwylim and the Univerity's Chief Field Archaeologist. Not to mention my Goddaughter. And you were attacking her while impugning her honor, her family's, my own, and the honor of the Legion, during which she maintained admirable self-discipline in not killing you. We will be having a very long conversation about this later."

"O-Of course sir." I could hear the color draining from her face. I almost felt sorry for her, not only was she likely to be given a dishonorable discharge, but once Idrosu had heard about this, she was almost certainly going to die.

"Hadvar, take Aurelia and find her some clothes. Now, let's get this grisly deed done." I felt another pair of firm hands on my shoulders.

I paused though, "General, if you don't mind, I'd like to see this."

This was going to be the end of the Stormcloak rebellion, it would be written down in the history books for the next few centuries. And I wanted to be able to write my first-hand account of it, even if I did have to stand there in nothing but a cloak. I opened my third eye halfway, just enough to see what everyone else could. The general nodded without speaking, he was furious about the delays, that was more than evident from the pulsing vein in the base of his neck. Thankfully, he seemed to blame it on the captain rather than me.

The executions proceeded as normal, I'd give the Stormcloaks this, each one that they brought the block faced his death with dignity and defiance.

After two of his lieutenants were beheaded, it came time for the man himself. General Tullius stepped in front of Ulfric and declared his crimes. Ulfric's gag prevented him from offering a rebuttal, though his followers were more than happy to do so in his stead. Finally they brought him to the block and put him on his knees.

There was a strange roar in the distance, the general ordered everyone to ignore it.

The executioner raised his mighty axe, ready to end the Stormcloak rebellion in one swing.

And that was when all hell broke loose.

 **…**

 **Okay guys, quick thing, I accidentally uploaded the third chapter where I meant to put this chapter. So you guys get next week's and this week's chapter this week.**

 **As always R &R people.**


	3. Chapter 3

Dragons… just when I thought that this day had run out of things to surprise me with, a fucking dragon crushes the top of the tower. I was torn between my inner scholar jumping up and down and demanding a closer look, and my more sane sense of self-preservation screaming for me to get to safety.

Thankfully, self-preservation won out the day.

Fireballs and falling debris were hitting the ground all around me. I had to get out of the open, I needed to put stone walls between myself and the dragon before it turned its attention in my direction. I saw another tower with an open door across the town square. It took me only a half second of my cape getting caught on a rock to make the decision that it wasn't worth the risk. I'd be embarrassed about it for the rest of my life, but I needed a rest of a life for that.

I sprinted naked across the town square, stepping over burning sticks, sharp stone fragments, and bits of things that used to be attached to people. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the dragon rearing his head back to launch a fireball in my direction. I leapt across the remaining distance, throwing myself through the doorway. I landed in a roll, just the way that Idrosu had taught me. And then I found myself encircled by wolves.

There were four Stormcloaks in the room, and right next to the door stood Ulfric Stormcloak. One of them, I recognized from the cart as Ralof of Riverwood, upon seeing me yelled, "Bind her, we need a hostage."

Summoning my magic again, something that I knew was taking a serious toll on me, and kindled flame with the righteous indignation I felt at these barbarians seeing me unclothed. The flames started in my hands and I willed them to travel up, twining like ivy around my arms. It took extra energy, but I wouldn't be able to fight them all anyway in my current state, my only hope was to scare them.

"I'd like to see you try." There was a lot more confidence in my voice than I really felt.

Ulfric held up a hand to the others, "Don't lay a hand on her, we need to ensure this girl escapes alive and unharmed."

Ralof looked at his Jarl in shock, "Jarl Ulfric, I would never question your orders, but this girl would guarantee our escape, and all of our imprisoned brothers, but probably a mountain of gold as well." This man must not have heard much about my father.

Ulfric shook his head, "I've met this girl's father, I served with him in the war. If this girl dies here, if he learns we took her hostage, he will take a blood oath to avenge her and he will personally bring the full weight and power of the Empire's most elite down upon Skyrim. Our finest guerilla commanders lay dead and their networks are undoubtedly being destroyed as we speak, were we to face that now, we would be destroyed."

Then he looked at me, "And I don't hide behind children, I protect them." He removed his fur cloak and offered it to me.

I was torn, on the one hand, naked, on the other, accepting gifts from a traitor.

I shook my head, scowling at him. "I'd rather be unclothed than don the mantle of a traitor."

With that I turned and sprinted up the steps, hoping I could find a room to lock myself in until they were gone. These plans didn't last long however, as the dragon's snout bashed through the stonework, nearly throwing me back down the stairs. I barely managed to catch my balance as the dragon blew a stream of flame into the tower.

After a moment, it drew back and flew off. The tower was aflame, I needed to get out of there and there was only one way that didn't include Stormcloaks. I steeled myself as best as I could and threw myself through the hole, flying through the air, and landing through a collapsed section in the roof of a burning house. As I landed I felt the scorch of the flames. I didn't have time to examine myself, but from where the pain was, I felt I must have burned myself in a very embarrassing place.

I came out of the front door of the burning house and saw a legionnaire calling for a boy to get to cover. He turned as he saw me. "My lady, you're still alive. We must get to safety, follow me."

Glad to be back in the hands of the Legion, I didn't hesitate. We sprinted across the path and sought cover behind a wall as the dragon dropped right on top of us and let out another jet of flame, thankfully, it didn't seem to see us and flew off again after a few moments. At the legionnaire's directive, I followed him out into another wide open area, surrounded by ruins. General Tullius was coordinating a retreat in the center of the chaos, like the eye of a maelstrom."

Upon seeing us he pointed towards the large keep behind him, "Hadvar, take Aurelia and get into the keep, we're moving out soldier."

Hadvar took me by the arm and half guided, half drug me toward the keep. Ralof, the Stormcloak, ran out in front of us, axe brandished. "Ralof, you damned traitor, get out of my way."

Ralof shook his axe at Hadvar, "We're escaping Hadvar. You're not stopping us this time."

The dragon roared again, Hadvar shook his head, "Fine. I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovngard!"

Ralof pointed at me, "You, these milk drinkers can't protect you, follow me."

That wasn't going to happen, I took a firm hold of Hadvar's bicep and let him lead me into the keep. The second we were inside, he turned, seeing no one following us, he slammed the door shut. "Looks like we're the only ones who made it in, we need to get into the caves and make our way out."

I was running out of Magicka, I closed my third eye all the way and fell back to my electric senses, I sent out a constant and steady wave of low level electricity, highlighting the silhouettes of everything around me. It was a called electroreception. Everything faded to black, then everything was replaced with dark and slightly blurry outlines.

This needed to end soon or I wasn't going to be able to use my magic. Hadvar brought me back to reality, "here, put these on." He shoved a set of Legion scout armor into my hands.

I pulled it on as fast as I could, it wasn't that great of a fit, but it was better than continuing as I had been. Even if it did make that burn on the very embarrassing place hurt a lot more. "Are you ready my lady?"

I nodded, "Let's go." Hadvar led me down a long hallway. At the end of the corridor, we reached an iron door, Hadvar opened it with a key he produced out of a pouch on his belt. At the same time, seven Stormcloaks stormed into the room from the other door. We were caught in the center of the room and within a second we were surrounded.

 **…**

 **Second one out, I actually managed to get a fair bit of work done on the next chapter of Frigid Warrior, though I won't lie, this story is launching its siren call at me to continue it past the chapters I already had stashed away. Aurelia is a fun character to write.**

 **Either way, R &R people.**


	4. Chapter 4

I threw up a ward as one threw a dagger at me, apparently these rebels hadn't gotten their leader's memo about not touching me. "Die with some honor milk drinkers," one yelled.

"Stay behind me," Hadvar urged. There was fear in his voice, he hid it well, but it was there. He knew he wasn't going to be able to handle all of them at once. I didn't have enough Magicka left to help all that much.

I only had one option left.

Idrosu was definitely going to punish me for this later.

I reached deep within myself, not tapping into my Magicka per se, the energy where my Magicka connected with my physical being, creating something different, something stronger. Idrosu called it Ki.

I took the energy and channeled it out, through my arms and into my hands, I couldn't hold onto this for long.

"Get down," I yelled to Hadvar. Thankfully, he followed my command. The Stormcloaks who didn't weren't so lucky.

The energy came bursting out of my palms and I spun. The beams burned white hot, pure, undiluted, energy burned cut a straight line from my palms to the wall. The beams made blinding flashes as they passed through the Stormcloaks. After the flash, all that remained was a smoking corpse.

It was taking its toll though. There was a chisel digging deeper and deeper into my skull, it felt like there was a hand on my heart, squeezing tighter and tighter to get the energy out.

The Stormcloaks screamed as they died, angry roars turning to pained wails, turning to death rattles. The sounds of death echoed in my ears. After one full rotation, I stopped. They were all dead, I collapsed on my knees and exhaustion overtook me.

A voice came to me from inside my head, quiet, mysterious, and feminine.

Welcome to Skyrim

Darkness.

….

My dreams were strange and fragmented. A beautiful woman all in black standing in a sewer under a frayed and beaten wineskin. A group of bandits with long golden claws digging through a pile of bones. A white mare caught between a bear and a dragon. An old woman sitting in a cart on the side of a road with a jester dancing around her. A forgotten king on an ancient throne ruling over a court of the dead. A burning tower and a winged shadow. A mountain top covered in grey, shouts in a language foreign to me echoing from it. A huge serpent trapped in an hour glass attempting to swallow a blue marble.

A small dragon the size of a tiger staring back at me curiously, curled up on my bed in what appeared to be my room at our family's summer estate.

When I awoke, I was laying in a bed, but not my own. The blankets were made from pelts, the pillow was made of a slightly scratchy material. I was also naked again other than some bandages on spots all over my body, and I still had a burn on my ass, and I was noticing others that I hadn't felt before. I sat up and extended my electric feelers. I was in a small cabin, there were a few other beds, a kitchen table, a side table or two, and across the room was a set of stairs leading down.

Up the stairs came a figure, a woman based on the form. "Ah, you're awake, how're you feeling dear?" The voice confirmed my suspicions, very soft and feminine.

"Fine, thank you, may I ask where I am?" As far as I could tell I was in friendly territory, but I wasn't putting it past Ulfric to try a velvet glove interrogation tactic.

"You're in Riverwood dear, I'm Sigrid, my nephew Hadvar brought you in last night. Said that you survived a dragon attack in Helgen. I thought he must be delirious, but those burns had to come from somewhere didn't they?" She strode across the room to the side of the bed, "But that can wait, now let's see about those burns, a cool bath will do a lot of good."

She took my arm to help me out of bed, and for a moment I was confused, my legs were fine, a few burns, but nothing that would severely debilitate me. Then I blinked, realizing that my illusion must have worn off. My eyes were naturally a pale grey, the iris almost blending in with the whites, it gave them a kind of dead look and it made my blindness more obvious, so every few months I put an illusion on them to make them appear a more vibrant purple, or blue when I wanted to look more normal.

She assumed that my blindness left me disabled, and on the off chance that this was all some form of trap, I wasn't going to disillusion her of that. I allowed her to guide me across the room and down the stairs where a brass tub sat filled with water.

She undid my bandages and helped me into the tub, which I was expecting to be room temperature, but found to be pleasantly chilled. I was curious about this until Sigrid mentioned, "Is it alright dear? This tub was a wedding gift from my cousin, she's a scribe at the College you see. It has these little runes that can make it hotter or colder, but I always get them confused."

"It's perfect, thank you." That was one hell of a gift, those enchantments cost a great deal. Whoever her cousin was, she was most definitely more than an average scribe. "May I ask where Hadvar is?" Finding him would go a long way in convincing me that this wasn't a trap.

The woman walked across the room and pulled several indistinct items from a drawer behind a counter. She poured in some type of dust and reached in to stir it into the bathwater, "Some powdered Monarch butterfly wings and Blisterwort to serve as a restorative." Then she poured some potion on a rag and proceeded to take me by the arm and start scrubbing me down. "Just a mix of tonics, some crushed mudcrab chitin and charred Skeever hide to prevent infection, and some elves ear to help the burns heal faster."

She was really assuming that I was a true invalid, it was good for my ruse, but my cheeks still went red. This certainly wasn't the first time been bathed, but from someone I'd only known for a few minutes, well… It was for the ruse, so I just had to suck it up and pretend not to be embarrassed.

"Your cheeks are flushed sweetie, you don't have a fever brewing, do you?" She laid a hand on my forehead, "no, no fever." Then she seemed to catch on, "Oh, don't worry my dear, I was a physician in Solitude before I met Alvor, this is far from the first time I've seen someone unclothed, and if it makes you feel any better, you have all of the makings of a beautiful young woman."

I was embarrassed, but the tonic she was using felt wonderful on my burns, she kept talking as she moved up my arms. "A nice lithe figure, small firm breasts, good hips, you may not know it yet, but one more good growth spurt and you'll have need to beat the boys away with a stick."

This was not doing anything to alleviate my embarrassment. "Thank you," I said shyly, then tried to change the subject, "My name is Aurelia by the way."

"Yes," she said, moving to my chest. "Hadvar mentioned that when he brought you in. I suppose you must be your parents' golden child." She chuckled at her joke, I grimaced, that joke had worn thin the sixtieth time I'd heard it. "I'm sorry, you've probably heard that more times than you can count."

"Yes," at least she acknowledged it was a bad pun. "What else did Hadvar say about me?" I needed to know exactly how much she knew.

"Only your name, that you'd been at Helgen for the dragon attack, that you were blind, and that you'd been injured in the fighting." She smiled knowingly, "Of course he's not telling me everything, good lad, but he's a terrible liar. I just assumed that it wasn't his place to say." She moved to my other arm, "Is there anything you feel I should know that I don't?"

If this was an interrogation tactic, it was one of the best that I'd ever seen. I felt utterly helpless, almost infantile, lying there naked before this grown woman, being washed like that. Somehow, her kind words and gentle demeanor had managed to make her maternally imposing. I felt like a recalcitrant child trying to hide the fact that I'd swiped a sweetroll.

"I'm the daughter of General Brutus Augustus, Commander of the Vi Tempestatis, the Imperial Special Forces." There was no harm in it, I supposed, if this was some ruse, then the Stormcloaks already knew who I was. If it wasn't, then Hadvar had already shown himself to be an ally, so if he trusted these people, I'd have to as well.

"Well, that would certainly explain why the Stormcloaks would be after you. What were you doing at Helgen Aurelia?" She moved on to my legs, starting at my waist and working her way down the outside.

"I was traveling with my caretaker and a caravan of soldiers, the Stormcloaks ambushed us. I fled, and ended up running right into an Imperial ambush that captured Ulfric Stormcloak." I had to admit, this was strangely relaxing, even if it was embarrassing.

"That explains the thorns in your arms, bad luck I suppose. What was the daughter of Brutus Augustus doing in Skyrim, another one of your archeological adventures I suppose?" She moved on to the inside of my legs, bringing the flush back. She wasn't actually going to try and wash me 'down there,' as my sister put it, was she?

"Yes, actually." She was, she moved up my legs and handled that particular area with the same clinical efficiency as the rest of my body.

Wait, I hadn't mentioned anything about archeology… had I?

My mind was muddled, I couldn't really focus on anything in particular, but I felt an eerie sense of calm flowing through me. Sigrid leaned over me a little more to clean around my neck, and the neckline of her dress fell forward a little bit. It was only a second before she fixed it, but there on her breast, just over her heart, I saw a tiny tattoo.

It was barely the size of the head on a Septim, but I knew it anywhere. The Amulet of Kings with an eye in the center.

The next few seconds were a blur, with a thought I cast a wind spell that threw Sigrid back across the room, another second and I was levitating six inches above the tub, a purple glow around my feet, a golden aura surrounding me, healing my wounds, my third eye fully open and blazing purple as water fell in drops and rivulets off of me. With barely a gesture, the water droplets had turned to razor sharp daggers of ice that floated around me, all directed at Sigrid.

I didn't think about how I was doing all that, but I certainly would later, for now I focused on the woman before me. "You're a member of the Penitus Oculatus."

She blinked hard, apparently not believing that the tiny girl that she'd had firmly under her thumb a moment ago had somehow transformed into this goddess of magic before her. Understandable, I could hardly believe it myself. "Aurelia, please calm down, I don't know what you're saying." She managed to put an admirable level of panic in her voice, I almost believed her… but not quite.

I flung a shard of ice at her, passing within a hair's breath of her ear, "No more games, what do the Emperor's secret police want with me?"

With that, she saw no more purpose for the ruse. It's amazing how much a shift in demeanor can change a person's appearance, her warm maternal gaze transformed into the cool and calculating eyes of an assassin, a small change in her stance turned her from a panicked homemaker into a trained fighter. With my third eye open at full strength, I could see a thin wire of red running from her hand to a hidden pocket in her dress, and in that pocket, a blade shaped blotch of black, a weapon that had taken many lives. She was going to try for it.

I threw another shot of ice between her hand and the pocket, "Don't even think about it."

She shook her head, "My posting has nothing to do with you, everything I told you was entirely true."

I looked at her through narrowed eyes, "You truly expect me to believe that the legionnaire who brought me here just happens to have an agent of the Imperial Secret Police for an aunt."

"As strange as it sounds, yes." She turned on the maternal act again, "I'm not here to hurt you Aurelia, I'm just trying to help."

I thought of the muddled feeling that was now fading, "You drugged me," she nodded, "And you used that little bath time routine to keep me distracted."

She nodded again, "Only to ease the building of a rapport, and to help you heal faster. Everything I told you was true."

"You just left out certain details," I said, glaring daggers at her.

She was unfazed, "You never asked any questions, therefore I never told you any lies. Now Aurelia, would you please calm down so that we may talk."

I hesitated, she seemed to be telling the truth, nothing about her aura was saying otherwise, but she might just be that skilled of a liar, and I had no clue how I was doing this. If I stopped, I had no idea if I'd be able to get it going again.

And it seemed, just by contemplating how I was doing it, I was taking myself out of it. "Fine," it was better to hide that I didn't have control over my newfound prowess, I gently lowered myself to the floor and whatever it was, it went out like a flame doused in water.

Sigrid seemed to relax, not quite going for the outright projection of warmth she'd been, but not the cold blooded operative ready to fight either, something in the middle. "We got off to a bad start Aurelia," she said simply.

I nodded, "Yes, yes we did."

"How about I help you get dressed, and we can try this again?" She kept her tone decidedly neutral.

"Are you going to lie to me again?" She probably was, but the question was how?

She shook her head, "No. so long as you don't threaten me with ice shards again."

After another tense moment, she helped me into the set of Legion armor that Hadvar had brought me in wearing. It fit much better now, apparently her husband, Alvor, had eyeballed some measurements and made some adjustments. He'd done surprisingly well without exact measurements.

Twenty minutes later, we were facing each other over bowls of vegetable and venison soup at their dinner table. Despite my anger at her, I couldn't help but devour it, partly because it was irritatingly delicious, and partly because I was starving.

"So," she began, "Would you like to tell your story first, or shall I?"

I set my spoon down, "I think that I've earned the right to hear yours first." The fact that the whole bathing process turned out to be an interrogation tactic left me feeling a touch violated. I focused all of my Magicka into my clairvoyance, if she was lying, I would know

She took a deep breath, "Alright." Leaning forward, she told her tale.

"I was trained from the age of ten to join the Penitus Oculatus. When I was eighteen, I was first deployed to Hammerfell, my cover was a traveling physician, two years later I was operating in High Rock, then I was assigned to Morrowind where certain events led me to Solstheim."

Her eyes turned misty as she spoke, "Alvor was there, talked into some scheme by a foolhardy antiquities merchant. He lost every septim he had on it and came away with a burn across his side from a trap for his trouble, but that burn brought him to my doorstep." She grinned slightly, "It took three weeks before we were hopelessly in love with one another."

"I put in a request for approval to transfer to Skyrim, and when it came time for Alvor to return home, I was with him. He had lost everything to that merchant, so he had no problems with starting over in Solitude. We spent eight years there before we had Dorthe and decided to move out to the country." The grin fell from her face and she adopted the mask of a professional again. "I've spent the past eight years as a sleeper agent, the last time I was activated was a year and a half ago."

So it was true, it really was just a coincidence that my savior at Helgen just happened to have a Penitus Oculatus sleeper agent for an aunt.

My life has become infinitely stranger since I began my studies.

She'd held up her end of the bargain, so I returned the favor, explaining everything, why I was in Skyrim, the ambush, Helgen, the dragon attack, all of it.

She listened to it all in contemplational silence. Finally, after I had finished, she asked the oh so important question.

"So, what are you going to do now?"

 **…**

 **And I managed to put this out in the right order this time, yay for me.**

 **I won't lie, as I've said before, this story is really calling on me to continue it, but I'm forcing myself to focus on Frigid Warrior. I've gotten a pretty solid amount done on the next chapter of that, but if it's not done by next Friday, I'll be putting out another chapter from one of my unfinished stories.**

 **Also, before anyone asks, the Ki is not a dragon ball reference, it was in a mod, Phendrix's I believe. I didn't know it was from DB until my friend pointed it out.**


	5. Chapter 5

The answer to that question came after I stepped out of Alvor and Sigrid's house.

Riverwood was a nice little village, from what I'd read of Skyrim, it was built around the lumber mill, but it's positioning had the additional benefit of being in a centralized location between all of the major hold capitals in southern Skyrim, allowing the inhabitants to do a brisk business with travelers along the busy road.

Hadvar was working a forge with a rather large bearded man that I assumed was Alvor, that wasn't surprising. What was surprising was the huge tiger laying next to the grindstone. It was absolutely massive, the size of a large horse at the least. The most surprising fact of all was that it was calmly chatting with Alvor.

"Aurelia m-it's good to see you up." Hadvar stifled a bow as he turned away from the forge, he gestured at the bearded man next to him, "This is my uncle, Alvor. I'm assuming you already met aunt Sigrid."

The bearded man, Alvor, turned to me, A hammer in one hand, a red-hot dagger in the other. "A pleasure to meet you lass, how's the armor?"

"Good, thank you for the adjustments." Once again I had to give the man credit, eyeballing my measurements wasn't easy for the tailors in the Imperial City. My sister tells me I have a svelte figure, a dancer's body. I think the truth is closer to what girls my age whisper when they think I can't hear at Imperial Balls, that I have the body of a crudely drawn stick figure.

He plunged the blade into the cooling trough, "The Legion likes it's one-size-for-all armor, easy to mass produce, but even with the straps it always makes the fit awkward." He pulled the blade from the trough and held it in front of him. It was a fine, if utilitarian, dagger. No frills, but it certainly looked well made. "Good for men like me though, made many a Septim doing simple adjustments for soldiers."

That reminded me, "How much do I owe you for the adjustments?"

The man shook his head, "Any friend of my nephew is a friend of mine. And Divines damn me if I ever turn a wounded waif of a lass away from my doorstep without doing everything I can to help her." He let out a hearty laugh, "And that's nothing compared to what Sigrid would do to me."

It was hard not to like this man, but I had to wonder how much he knew of his wife's background. "I have to repay you somehow."

"The girl, she has a sense of honor." The voice was smooth and almost purring, the tiger raised his head, looking at me with amusement. "Or perhaps she attempts to ingratiate herself to better rob you later."

I was taken aback, but I remembered my studies. I gave a half bow, "Aurelia takes pleasure in meeting you, Sa-m'Athra. It is rare to see a Pahmar-raht outside of Elsweyr." I'd spent time in Elsweyr studying the ruined palace of Versidue-Shaie and the Hall of Colossus.

"Hmm, the girl has manners, definitely trying to steal something." There was just enough humor in his voice to make it seem like he was joking, but not entirely.

Alvor laughed again, Hadvar let out an uneasy grin, unsure whether they were insulting me. I didn't take offence, Khajiit have a unique sense of humor. Alvor looked to me once again, "If you're truly dead set on repaying me, I could use as many extra hands as I can get. The Legion put in massive orders for everyone who can work a forge, and I've also got a few local orders that need tending to, not as high paying, but I can't burn any bridges with longtime customers."

I nodded, "I'd be happy to help."

And so I did, I spent the morning and the better part of the afternoon working with them. I sharpened axes and sawblades for the mill against a grindstone, dipped blades in the cooling trough and stacked them up, worked the billows when the flames grew low, and just did all the miscellaneous tasks so that Alvor and Hadvar could focus on the real forging. All the while Alvor lectured the two of us on the art of smithing, metallurgy, technique, and the various styles of weapons and armor. Once, he let me forge a dagger myself, it took me a few tries, the first time the blade was misshaped, the second time the metal turned out brittle, but the third try I finished and Alvor declared acceptable. All in all, it was a very educational experience.

"Alright, that should do it for today, thank you both." Alvor set his tools down, Hadvar followed suit, cracking his knuckles. "Sigrid shouldn't have dinner done for another hour or so, let's head to the Sleeping Giant for a drink, my treat."

I was drenched in sweat, working a forge was far more exhausting than it had ever appeared. I had a whole new respect for the forgemasters and their apprentices back at my family estate. I wiped the sweat off my brow and decided that a drink sounded rather good.

Before I could follow Alvor and Hadvar, the Khajiit raised his head and looked at me. His huge green eyes seemed even larger considering the tiny black slits that made up his pupil, "Before the night is over, you and I shall shed blood together." He looked up at the moon rising in the east, "It is in the moons."

I was about to ask for more information, but he lowered his head into his paws, the message being that the conversation was over. Shaking my head, I turned and went to catch up with the two men.

The Sleeping Giant Inn was only a short walk down the main path in the village. Inside was a large open space with a blazing hearth in the center. It seemed now was their peak as it seemed at least half the village could be found drinking or laughing while a bard played in the corner.

We took the places of a few men as they stood up and made their way out. Alvor ordered a round of mead from a rather severe looking woman, a Breton by the look of her. Something about her really caught my interest, I grew up around three groups of people, nobles, servants, and elite warriors. This woman walked with a lot more pride than a servant, and the way she never put her back to the door, the way her dress was cut just a little too high on her legs allowing her to adopt a fighter's stance without inconvenience. Out of curiosity, I pushed my third eye open all the way for a second, a cord of fate ran from her to me. Now that was interesting.

"Thank you Delphine," Alvor handed her a mug of the infamous mead that Nords were known for. "Come morn, we'll have to send a runner to Whiterun," the blacksmith said grimly, "I don't know how much good it'll do, but a few extra trained blades never hurt."

Hadvar nodded, taking a swig of his mead. I eyed the liquid, it looked like any other mead that I'd had occasion to try. I brought the mug to my lips and took a sip.

It took a lot of willpower to keep it from coming back up, along with the rest of the contents of my stomach. They must have seen the look on my face, Alvor laughed, Hadvar tried to smother his grin. Alvor laid a bear-paw hand on my shoulder, "Don't worry lass, Hadvar had the same look on his face the first time he had a sip. It grows on you."

I wanted to be polite, so I nodded and kept forcing myself to drink it. It wasn't like any of the sipping wines or brandy that I'd had at home, it wasn't even like what the merchants in the Imperial City claimed was Nord mead. Still, as I kept forcing it down my throat, he was right, I found it going down easier with every sip, after the initial shock, the more subtle flavors of mint and honey seemed to emerge. By the time I was halfway through the mug, I actually found myself enjoying it.

Alvor gave me a hard slap on the back that nearly sent me out of my seat and let out a hearty laugh, "There's a good lass, we'll make a true Nord out of you yet."

I felt an odd sort of pride and smiled back at him, but when I opened my mouth, a small belch bubbled up from my stomach and my cheeks burned red, "excuse me."

Alvor let out another roar of laughter, "Ha, you've got a Nord soul in you girl. Tell me, since my nephew insisted on being so damn quiet about it, what brings you to our land of ice and steel?"

That made me pause for a second, but Hadvar already knew, so did Sigrid, I couldn't see the harm in telling Alvor. "I'm an archaeologist from the University of Gwylim, I'm going to the College of Winterhold to study magic in between explorations. I'm really hoping to gain new information on the shift from classical Atmoran culture to the beginnings of classical Nordic. Of course that's just what I put on the research proposition, Skyrim was the landing ground for a number of ancient cultures, and has a heavy density of relatively uncontaminated ruins, in particular the tombs like Bleak Falls Barrow."

Alvor nodded sagely and for a moment I thought he understood what I had said, but he quickly disillusioned me of that. "Over this old head lass, but ye seem a bit slight for all of that

Hadvar seemed to jump at my discomfort, "Uncle Alvor don't pe-" I held up my hand

"It's fine Hadvar, I'm well aware that I'm a pale, sickly, blind little girl and that if I didn't tell people, no one would ever guess I'm seventeen. And any undeserved arrogance I had left was spanked out of me by my dunmer caretaker."

Hadvar blushed and Alvor seemed utterly confused, and in the intervening moments, a new voice broke the awkwardness.

"Well one of us has to do something!"

The yell came from across the hall, piercing the waves of conversation and drawing attention to a young woman, a tall Imperial with a dagger openly hanging from her belt. She stood with her hands planted firmly on the table in front of her, across from her sat a nervous looking man with a neatly trimmed goatee. "No!" he said, "I said no! No adventures, no theatrics, no thief-chasing!"

The woman folded her arms over her chest, "Well what are you going to do then, huh? Let's hear it!"

The man seemed to stumble over his words before coming to his conclusion, "I don't know, we're done talking about this."

I looked at Alvor, "What's going on?"

Alvor shook his head, "Ah, a tribes-worth of bandits moved into the Barrow a few weeks ago, they don't make much trouble, but a few came down a couple of nights ago and raided Lucan's shop. Strange thing, they only took one thing, an ornament, big hunk of gold in the shape of a dragon's claw."

A golden claw, in a nordic tomb.

No… it couldn't be that obvious. Something archaeologists have studied for decades, centuries, and the answer was sitting on a shopkeeper's counter.

Then I remembered my dream, bandits with golden claws digging through bones.

I shot out of my seat like bolt from a cross bow, earning me strange looks from Alvor and Hadvar.

No way in all the planes of oblivion was I this get away from me.

I darted out of the hall before Alvor or Hadvar could say anything.

To my surprise, I found the Pahmar-Raht waiting for me, smirking the way only a tiger could.

"Is the girl ready for what comes next?"

I didn't know what to make of that, but at the moment I didn't much care.

"I need to get to Bleak Falls Barrow, now!"

 **…..**

 **Okay guys, sorry I missed last week, but the long and short of it is… State troopers should not be allowed to hide in the median with no lights on.**

 **Yep, I got a speeding ticket for doing ninety six in a Seventy. I am really not happy about this, and it has made me passionately against speed limits.**

 **This one would have been a lot longer had I not been so damn busy with the aggravated speeding nonsense, my articles for the newspaper, and numerous, numerous homework assignments.**

 **Slight side note, I'm debating which story to revisit for next week while I work on Frigid Warrior, I'm thinking my XCOM story, any interest?**

 **R &R guys, later.**


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